USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier in a 'super-class' of its own

By KJ Kwon, CNN

Updated 8:57 AM ET, Tue October 15, 2013

6 photos

On board 'world's most powerful warship' – USS George Washington, a U.S. nuclear-powered carrier, can carry as many as 80 aircraft and accommodate more than 6,000 crew.

Hide Caption

1 of 6

6 photos

On board 'world's most powerful warship' – Aircraft carrier crew works on the fuselage of an F/A 18-E Super Hornet. According to the U.S. Navy, there are more than 500 of the aircraft in operation throughout the fleet.

On board 'world's most powerful warship' – The carrier, which was on a routine patrol mission in the waters off the Korean peninsula over the weekend, drew harsh rhetoric from North Korea which claimed to put its troops on alert in response to the drills.

Hide Caption

4 of 6

6 photos

On board 'world's most powerful warship' – The routine mission comes one day after a trilateral drill between the U.S., South Korea and Japan ended. The joint drills mainly focused on search and rescue mission.

Hide Caption

5 of 6

6 photos

On board 'world's most powerful warship' – Landing Signal Officer guides in a fighter jet on the deck of the USS George Washington. The Naval Institute categorizes the Nimitz-class ship as a 'super carrier.'

Hide Caption

6 of 6

Story highlights

Rare visit to USS George Washington, one of world's most powerful warships

Aircraft carrier in waters off Korean peninsula for a routine "patrol mission"

It is home to up 6,000 crew and 18,000 meals are served a day

Floating in the middle of the sea, the first thing we noticed was the vast expanse of tarmac, roughly the size of three soccer fields. And then we heard the loud blasting sound of fighter jets preparing to take off.

This was one of the world's most powerful warships, the Nimitz-class 'super carrier' USS George Washington, which the CNN crew and members of other media organizations were granted a rare opportunity to visit this weekend.

After climbing up the equivalent of an eight-story building, staircase after staircase, one narrow hallway after another, we finally arrived at the "bridge," an elevated tower containing the command control center on the aircraft carrier.

The U.S. nuclear-powered carrier was in the waters off the Korean peninsula for a routine patrol mission, which followed a trilateral "search and rescue" drill between the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

MUST WATCH

JUST WATCHED

Watch first drone launch from carrier

MUST WATCH

The drill drew harsh rhetoric from North Korea earlier last week, warning the U.S. of a "horrible disaster" and claimed that its troops are on high alert to promptly cope with "blatant provocations."

Standing on the flight deck of the USS George Washington, I realized North Korea probably had good reason to be on edge.

The USS George Washington can carry about 80 aircraft, launch tactical fighter jets towards any location and is equipped with various types of missiles.

Known as a "floating military base", it can also accommodate more than 6,000 crew, serve 18,000 meals per day and even has live broadcast television on the vessel.

Back on the bridge, we saw fighter jets take off one after another at an impressive pace. This, I was told, was the work of a deck catapult, which slings the fighter jet forward, generating enormous speed.

We experienced just that. Ending the tour, we strapped ourselves into a propeller-powered, windowless plane.

After a roaring sound, the plane took off at an enormous speed, faster than any roller coaster ride I had been on.